Brevity Mag piece: Cheekbones

October 20, 2013 Raidah Shah Idil

I read an excellent short piece on Brevity Mag – Cheekbones, by Patricia Park.

Her piece was quietly compelling, and it felt like a glimpse into the inner world of North and South Korea. I’ve only ever heard about South Korea, so it was definitely refreshing to hear a different take on the North.This quote from the piece made me smile and shake my head. My mother has high cheekbones.

A woman with strong cheekbones is bound to have a hard life. “Her husband gonna die. Her children giving her the hard time. She has to do laundry and it’s so hard work.”

Gotta love these folk wisdoms.

Published by Raidah Shah Idil

Raidah Shah Idil is a student counsellor, poet, writer, and creative instructor with a passion for YA (young adult), fantasy, sci-fi and detective fiction. She was born in Singapore and moved to Australia at the age of 12. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of New South Wales in 2005. After working as a marketing copywriter and studying the Islamic Sciences in Amman, Jordan for nearly two years, she returned to Sydney, got married, then moved to Malaysia. While working as a part-time tutor at Axiom Learning, she works as an online counsellor for Seekershub Global. She has completed her Diploma of Counselling through the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Her full-time job is raising her baby daughter. Everything else is squeezed in between. Literally. Her writing has been published in The Feminist Wire, SISTERS magazine, Daily Life, Lip Mag and Venture Beat. Raidah’s poetry was recently published in the ‘Armed With Only Our Souls’ online DDFS chapbook by New York poet Caits Meissner. Her debut double-featured novel, “Finding Jamilah and the Story of Yusuf” was published by MyLegacy publications in early 2014. In her spare time (ha), she reads, listens to audiobooks, goes on walks, and is always on the lookout for tasty noodle soup. She currently lives in a green, leafy suburb in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, three small children and mother-in-law. View all posts by Raidah Shah Idil